The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1893, Page 14

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14 The Lutheran Pioneer.

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Why Weepest Thou?

In our picture we see the risen Saviour meet-
ing Mary Magdalene and revealing Himself to
her. She had come to the sepulchre of Christ
early on Easter morning to anoint the body of
her Lord. She found the stone taken away.
She thought Christ’s enemies had taken His
body, and stood at the sepulchre weeping.
When she turned herself back, she saw Jesus
standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, ‘‘Woman, why weepest
thou??? And then He revealed Himself to
her as her risen Lord and Saviour. Her tears
were dried and with a joyful heart she came
and told the disciples that she had seen the
Lord and that He had spoken to her.

“Why weepest thou?’? With these tender
words the risen Saviour greeted the weeping
Mary Magdalene in her great sorrow. And
every Easter still brings to all sorrowing Chris-
tian hearts the tender greeting: ‘‘ Why weepest
thou?’ The glad Easter tidings of our
Saviour’s resurrection should dry all
our tears and drive away all our sorrow.
“T know that my Redeemer liveth.’’
With these words Job comforted him-
self when friends, and property, and
health were all gone.

Dr. Jerome Weller, a friend of Luther,
had to pass through many sufferings
and trials, so that his soul was often
cast down and cried for comfort. One
day he went to an old Christian in Wit-
tenberg, in order to speak with him
about God’s Word and thus drive away
all sad thoughts. Upon entering the
room of his Christian friend he saw a
picture on the wall representing the

resurrection of Christ and suddenly exclaimed: | ring through the silence of the tomb 4nd the
There will be a joyful meet-
being astonished at such greetings, asked him|ing of all the children of God. In glorious
The doctor told him that he| bodies they shall stand before the throne of

‘Victory! Victory!’’ His old Christian friend,

what he meant.

It is a great sorrow that floods the soul of
the Christian, when the hand of death snatches
| away some one that is far dearer than life itself.
| He returns from the graveyard to his desolate
; home, and the sight of the vacant chair makes
ie sob and shudder. The sound of voices
jgrates harshly upon his ear, and he wonders
| that the sun shines, that people can talk and
jlaugh on the streets, and that the hum of
| business does not cease forever. But the glad
| Easter tidings of a risen Saviour sheds a bright
| light of comfort also into this darkness caused
by death. ‘Why weepest thou?’’? The Lord
lis risen, He is risen indeed! And the apostle
Paul says, ‘‘Now is Christ risen from the dead
and become the first fruits of them that slept.”
Since Christ in His resurrection became the
first fruits of them that slept, we know that
the whole harvest will be gathered in. He
says, ‘‘I live, and ye shall live also.’? The

miracle of His own resurrection is the forerun-
ner of that great miracle, when His shout shall

dead shall rise.

./” }saw that sin and death and devil and hell were} resting-place, where his body rests from the

had come to his house with a heart cast down| the Lamb and sing the song of the redeemed.
with great sorrow, so that he could hardly|‘‘So shall we ever be with the Lord. Where-
breathe; but when, on entering the room, he| fore comfort one another with these words.”’
isaw that picture of his risen Saviour, when he|The grave of the believer is but the quiet

,under the feet of Jesus, the great Conqueror, | strife and toil of earth until the morning of
then all sad thoughts were gone and his heart] the great resurrection. At the graves of the

————————————_—_——_—_____—_——

again, and Jay out as usual. When found, he
was asked why he did not travel by the com-
pass. He said that he did not dare to. He
wished to go north, and he tried hard to make
the thing point north, but it was no use—it
would shake, shake, shake right round and
point south-east every time. <A great many
people fail of the right direction in life, for
the same reason of the mishap which befell
this Wolverine. They are afraid to take the
Bible and follow just as it points. They would
like the Bible point as they desire; but as it
will not do so, they take their own wrong way.
And the wrong way will ever lead in the op-
posite direction to truth and heaven.—Zz.

———2 +0 o> oe

A Quaint Church.

On the outskirts of Wilmington, Delaware,
stands the ‘‘Old Swedes’ Church,’’ with the
figures ‘‘1698,’’ made of iron, fastened in the
west gable. It was erected by Swedish
Lutherans. It is, probably, the oldest
church in America that stands to-day
just about as it left the hands of its
builders. It is surrounded by graves,
and stands a mile West of the Delaware.

The building is of gray stone, sixty
feet long; thirty wide ; and twenty high.
The walls are six feet thick at the base,
and three at the windows. Inscriptions
in iron letters are set into walls on all
sides. Dutch Peter, the battle scarred
veteran, once was sexton of the church,
and hauled live coals from the ‘‘cannon-
stove’’ upon the brick floor to warm it.

The roof is of cedar; the pews of
fir, and the quaint old pulpit has the old-
fashioned sounding-board over it. When the
building was ready for dedication, the occasion
was made a day of great rejoicing. The sturdy
Swedes could not forget that they had prayed
and worked for years that they might have a
church of their own faith, in which they might
worship God in their own tongue, nor that
they had been obliged to erect it under the
shadow of the old fort, that they might have
protection from enemies, savage and civilized.
When, therefore, the structure was complete

_ But because He lives, we also shall live through
_ Him, as He Himself says: ‘I liye, and ye shall

was filled with great joy.

It is also well known that Dr. Luther, in| praise:

his sore trials, often cheered himself with the
words: ‘'He lives! Helives!’”? He would write
them in large letters with chalk upon his table ;
yea, upon all the doors and upon the wall of his
room he would write: ‘‘He lives! He lives!
He lives!”” When asked what he meant there-
by, he answered, ‘‘Jesus lives! and if He did
not liye, I would not wish to live’a single hour.

Thus the faith of the child of

ooks away from the darkness and finds] who, where the country was new, got lost in
rt in the risen Saviour who lives and| the woods several times.
as the Conqueror over all our} a pocket-compass, which he did, and a friend

: ies explained to him its use. He soon got lost| most of the glory of Christ.

it was a day of great rejoicing for all. A
feast was proclaimed. All sorts of meat and
drink were contributed — wheat, malt, bread,
flour, hops, wine, butter, sugar, raisins, eggs,
yeal, mutton, vénison, chickens, turkeys, tur-
nips, etc. The congregation ate the dinner
together, ‘‘rejoicing and praising God.’’ For
years afterwards the anniversary was ob-
served. Communions and baptismal services
were long celebrated with the chalice and plate
sent over by the copper workers of Sweden to
Pastor Bjork, and the Bible long used was
that given by Queen Anne, in 1712.
. Young Lutheran.

———>~o- o o

children of God we may sing the hymn of

“Thou hast been here, Lord Jesus!
But Thou art here no more;
The terror and the darkness,
The night of death, are o’er.
Great Captain of salvation!
Thy triumphs now we sing;
O Grave, where is thy victory?
O Death, where is thy sting?”

i eo

Traveling by the Compass.

A story is told of an old hunter in Michigan,

He was told to buy

He that walks most with Christ will know |

9 ee SSSA